1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a device for receiving medical sharps such as, for example, needles, blades, and other sharp objects, and more to a device for receiving medical sharps that counts and stores medical sharps ergonomically and efficiently.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surgery is done with multiple small sharp items that could be lost in the body prior to closure and accidentally left in a position that allows sticking or cutting of the operative employees or the surgeon. Recording and storing medical sharps, e.g., needles, scalpels, blades, etc., are critical safety measures in the operating room. For example, these items are routinely accounted for prior to the closure of an operative wound. Thus, it is necessary that the device receiving and containing these items must be a safe receptacle that will prevent the loss of its contents. Further, the device must allow a user to safely position the items in the device to ensure all used sharp items are accounted for prior to the closure of the open wound.
Currently there are mechanisms that allow a user to position needles and sharp blades into a ridged and numbered receptacle or into a pincushion that is similarly numbered. However, if a needle is dull or broken, these needles cannot be easily locked into their appropriate receptacle position safely.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,069 to Eldridge discloses a “Receiver for Disposable Surgical Implements” which is provided with a pair of foldably connected pads, wherein each pad comprises a penetrable top layer and a penetration resisting bottom lamination. As each surgical implement is removed from the patient, it is inserted through the top layer and retained for eventual counting. The pads may then be folded together covering the sharp edges and then safely disposed of. However, various implements such as hypodermic needles, surgical needles, and small surgical knives can be inserted into available space of each pad. Thus, because various instruments may be inserted in a random fashion, the device does not provide a means for efficiently accounting for surgical instruments.
The devices in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,109 to Sandel and Eldridge utilize magnetic force to retain surgical instruments made of ferrous metals. In particular, Sandel discloses a hinged container for magnetically retaining surgical needles. As surgical instruments are removed from the body, they are deposited within the hinged container and held in position there by a magnetic means
that completely covers an interior portion. However, a shortcoming of these devices is that only ferrous materials can be retained by the magnetic surfaces. Further, there is a tendency for the ferrous materials to become magnetized to themselves and become attracted to one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,802 to Freitag discloses a pad of resilient material having consecutively numbered receiving zones, wherein needles are inserted through ridges on an upper face of the pad. Because each needle can only be attached to a ridge by puncturing the resilient material, each needle must be pointed or sharp and it must be proper oriented to puncture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,774 to Roberts (hereinafter “Roberts”) discloses a surgical needle discard container with a rotatably attached lid for inserting used surgical needles. However, proper use of the Roberts' container requires two hands to rotate the lid once a needle is inserted into the container. Even in a situation where the Roberts' container may be attached to another item such that only one hand is needed to rotate the lid, touching the lid with a hand during surgery may allow for contamination and/or needle stick injury in an attempt to move the lid of the container.
Among the above devices used to receive and store needles, there are additional shortcomings. For example, despite having consecutively numbered zones, some of the above devices may lead to confusion in the accounting of instruments. In such devices, needles or other surgical instruments may be positioned over a border and in multiple zones. In particular, an unoccupied zone may appear to be occupied when it actually is not. An inability to efficiently count surgical instruments is an inconvenience to the surgeon or scrub nurse performing the counting and it may lead to delays, and thus complications, as a result. In some devices, touching the actual device with one's hands) is required, thus potentially risking injury to the hands of the individual touching the device.
Thus, what is desired is a storage device that has an ergonomic construction and will allow a user to avoid injury, increase efficiency in counting and positioning different types of needles and other surgical devices, and significantly decrease inadvertent needle sticks to the medical staff by not requiring that hands of the medical staff need to touch the device.